British companies are upbeat about doing business in India, with 56 per cent of them saying it is getting easier to do business in India and their perception about corruption being a barrier to operating in India seeing a sharp drop, according to the UK India Business Council's fifth annual Doing Business in India report released recently.
The report is based on the result of extensive discussions, including a round-table in London with Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal and a survey that questioned British firms and higher education institutions on the operating environment in India and their reform priorities.British companies are upbeat about doing business in India, with 56 per cent of them saying it is getting easier to do business in India and their perception about corruption being a barrier to operating in India seeing a sharp drop, according to the UK India Business Council's fifth annual Doing Business in India report released recently.#
Twenty six per cent said they planned to do more business with India as a direct result of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (EU). This will be a further boost to the flow of goods, services and investment between the two countries, UKIBC said.
"Overall, the survey respondents were positive about India, with 56 per cent stating that it is getting easier to do business in India, and only 21 per cent saying that it has not improved (while 23 per cent were undecided). Perhaps the most positive message in the report for Modi's government is the dramatic drop in perceptions of corruption," UKIBC stated.
When UKIBC published its first Doing Business in India report in 2014, over half of the respondents cited corruption as a top barrier to operating in India. This figure has improved year on year, and this year, it has dropped to 17.5 per cent.
There is clearly still work to do to eliminate all forms of corruption, but the continued reduction is positive, UKIBC said.
However, legal and regulatory impediments continue to be the most persistent barrier to doing business and were cited by 59 per cent of respondents as a major barrier. Identifying a suitable partner and taxation issues are the next two most cited barriers.
The most popular reform expected by British businesses is 'improving the quality of bureaucracy', with 28.6 per cent of respondents urging the Indian government to act in this area, the report found.
The second most popular reform request was also related to bureaucracy, with 16.9 per cent of respondents calling for simplification of the goods and services tax.
Maharashtra topped the list of states making most improvement in business environment, followed by Delhi.
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